Grain feeder and packer



(N Mmm.)

H. M., WEAVER. GRAIN FEEDER. AND PAG-KBB.

Patented May 31, 1887.

@nme/Joao ofthe elevator.

UNITED STATES .PATENT Erica.

HENRY M. VEAVER, lOF MANSFIELD, OHIO.v

GRAIN FEEDER AND PACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,867, dated May 31,17887.

A pplicalinn filed February 27, 1886. Serial No. 193,475. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it 17cm/concern: f

Be it known that I, HENRY M. WEAVER, acitizen of the United States,residing at Mansfield, in the county of Richland and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain Feeders andPackers, of which the following is a specication.

In some types of grain-binders, whether lowlevel77 or standard7 machines, as the terms are commonly applied nowadays, packers are used tofeed the grain int-o the receptacle or against a tripping deviceconsisting of a series of starwheels attached to a rotating shaft andforcing the grain forward from the receiving-point in wisps or bunchesinto a passage-way or packing-chamber, where it accumulates by regularincrements and under a constantly-increasing compression until thetripping devices are started or the binding apparatus otherwise set inmotion. Such star-wheels arealso occasionally used in harvesters at thefoot of the elevator to carry the grain from the platform to theelevator aprons or carriers, or to lift it themselves to the head ofsuch elevator. In order to stri p the grain from these packers theirteeth have someti mes been caused to act through slots ina broadmetallic apron constituting oneside or decking of the passageway orchamber or At other times stri pper-bands have been employed supportedat one Aend upon the rotating shaft, which carries the wheels, and atthe other end upon an overhead support. rIhe shield or apron isobjectionable on account of its weight and expensive character and thenecessity for entirely replacing it if broken at any point, while theindependent stripper-bands have been found to increase the danger ofclogging as the packers crowd the straw in underneath the strippers andwind it in the interstices between such strippers and their own hubs,spreading the strippers, and finally themselves ceasing action. Thesedefects I propose to remedy by the employment of tending-disks securedto the packer-shaft at a fixed distance from each of said star-wheels,and either independently secured to the shaft or forming part of thehubof the adjacent star-wheel, between which and the wheel one of thestrippers or a prong therefrom is embraced, making the disks of suchdiameter as to lift or press the straw away from contact with the shaftor with the stripthem. are supported by the shaft, or have bearings f2vpers at any point immediately adjacent to theshaft. Incidentally, also,I prefer to employ pronged strippers having an integral hub or buttpiece, which embraces or is secured to the upper support, and projectingfrom this two` parallel arms, just sufficiently far apart to embodyingmy invention as is necessary to an n nderstan'ding thereof; Fig. 2, avertical transverse section, seen from the grain side, of the packingmechanism shown in the preceding figure, and Fig. 3 a modication..

4A represents a platform apron or carrier; B, the decking of anascendingpassage-way at the delivery end of said carrier, which may lead totripping and binding mechanism or other appropriate instrumentalities.Above this passage-way is a rotating shaft., C, carrying a series ofstar-wheels or packers, D, the fingers of which sweep the grain receivedfrom the apron forwardl along the passage-way in wisps or bunches andpack it upon or intothe accumulating mass beyond.

From a support, E, beyond or .bove the packer-wheels, project strippersF, preferably made with ahub, f, to embrace or afford ameans ofattachment to the support, and from this prolonged into curved or scrollarms f', parallel with each other, and just sufficiently far apart toembrace a star-wheel between At their lower ends they rest upon and toembrace the -hub of the star-wheels. As ths far described, thesestrippers, and, lin fact, all strippers of which I am aware that embraceat one end the packer-shaft or the wheel-hubs, afford a dangerous sourceof clogging, since straw gets in` between them and-the star-wheels, andis wound about the shaft or wedged-in at the angle between the shaft andthe strippers, or in theginterstices between the strippers'and wheels.To avoid this, I pin to the packer-shaft, on each side of thestarwheels, fender-disks G, or form them integral with the hubs of saidwheels, as shown in the modification. These fenders are of such diameterthat they lift or-keep the grain away IOO fronrthe shaft and from anyappreciable prox` imity to the inner ends of the strippers, and

are placed at such a distance from the wheels already stated, o fpreventing clogging, and, the

second, preventing the-pronged ends of the strippers from being spreadapart as the result of such clogging, or of any untoward accident,whileat the same time they allow the grain to bulge up between them sothat the packer-teeth penetrate more deeply into and get a. better holdupon it than would be the case were said fenders in practical contactwith said teeth. Y

It is evident that 011e arm of each stripper may be omitted, if desired;or, what is equivalent, that a single stripper not pronged or bifnreatedas the one described may be employed in connection with a fender-disk onone side of the star-wheel, or two independent strippers, one on eachside of the star-wheel, with fender-disks arranged as'shown; also, thatthe location of the overhead support will be varied according to theexigencies of the machine or type o f the machine employed, or thepurpose for which the packers are used, and that the platform-apronherein described is taken only as an exemplar or exponent of anysuitable delivery mechanism arranged in any suitable relative position;and I donot intend to limit myself to the precise form of starwheels orrotating-packers shown in the drawings, nor to the employment of thefenderdisks and strippers in vconnection withV the packer-wheels havingrigid arms or teeth; but

1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thepackershaft, the packer-teeth thereon, disks afxed to the shaft inproximity to t-he teeth and projecting above the hub which supports saidteeth, and strippers supported at one end upon the frameand toward theother entering between the disks and the teeth.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thepackenshaft, packerteeth carried thereby, fending-dsks fixed to theshaft in proximity to the teeth, and stripper-bands supported at one endupon the shaft between the disks and the teeth and at the other end uponthe frame-work.

' 3. The combination, substantially as here inbefore set forth, of thepaekershaft, the packer-teeth carried thereby, fending-disks fixed tothe shaft in proximity to the teeth, and pronged strippers supported bytheir shank from the frame, embracing the packerteeth with their forks,and at the extreme end of said forks supported upon the packer-shaftbetween the teeth and fenders.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, ofthepaCkershaft, the packer-teeth supported thereon, fending-disks integralwith the hubs of the packer-teeth, and strippers supported at one endupon the frame-work and at the other embracing the Inecks of the hubsbetween the teeth and the the center-of the hub, and fending-disks at'each side of said teeth, but a little removed therefrom, so as to leave'diminished necks upon said hubs.

HENRY M. VEAVER.

Vitnesses: l

i JOHN AUeUsrrNn,

JOHN M. JoLLnY.

